Gassy Baby: A Product Review

18Jul

My 3-week old baby has been plagued with some awful gas over the past week. It’s upset her daytime rest, and all of our nighttime rest. Because: when a newborn is squalling at 2:30 in the morning, it’s highly unlikely anyone is sleeping through it. It’s upset me, because I wonder what I have eaten that’s disagreed with her (the broccoli bacon salad may have started the whole downward spiral). Over the last couple of days though, it’s gotten worse. I can see her poor belly distended to such an extend that it’s got to be painful. Yesterday, after day 3 of no more than 90-minute-stretches of sleep, I packed my kids up and took them to my Mom’s.

Mom cures everything.

The boys were enjoying themselves throughly in her local splash pad, while I sat with the babe in the shade. Mom was with us most of the time, and as you do, we got to talking. Specifically, about Elise’s gas. The end result of that conversation saw me on the hunt last night for gripe water.

I had done some research online about what to expect to find on the ingredient list for this product, and armed thusly set off to my local Shoppers Drug Mart. What I found on their shelves, however, was not a product that I wanted in my hands, never mind inside my infant. Their gripe water – both with and without alcohol – contained 2 different parabens! Parabens are commonly found in personal care products, used to extend shelf life. But really: all gripe water should be is distilled water with some herbs like chamomile and lavender and ginger. How much perserving do those ingredients need? Of far greater concern to this informed consumer, parabens are linked to cancer. In fact, they are found in 90% of cancer cells.

Why, oh why, would I put this in my child?

You may be surprised to know that I would not. I grabbed a couple of tubs of Ben & Jerry’s so the trip wasn’t entirely wasted, and headed off in the direction of my local health food store. Where I found this product:

This is the homeopathic remedy that saved my sleeping nights, and my waking days!

It’s a homeopathic remedy containing purified water, bitter cucumber, vegetable charcoal and copper (the names are the latin ones on the box, but I googled them so I’d know exactly what they are). That’s it. It comes in 30 individual vials, with about 1/4tsp of the infusion in each vial. You snap the top off the vial and can easily drip small drops into your screaming infants mouth, which they can swallow.

Can you see the tiny whole in the open vial? Perfect sized drops for your newborn. Just ask me!

The best part though? The best part is that it WORKS.

Oh me, oh my it worked! It took about an hour I’d say to see noticeable change, so if you try this out yourself, be a little bit patient. Within 2 hours Elise was breathing calmly, more deeply than she had (without my breast in her mouth, that is) in days. Her body was relaxed, her face was peaceful, and she was sleeping.

And kept sleeping! From 10:30 – 3:30, thank you very much! I feel like a new woman today, and armed with a remedy for my baby, I feel like I can take on the world.

Information shared here is totally biased, based solely on my personal experience. I was not paid for this review, but if you want to pay me I accept cash and/or cheques.